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DRAFT MINUTES COMMITTEE ON MINORITY AFFAIRS APRIL 15, 1997 12 NOON
Present: Chairman: Clinton I. Young, Jr. Members: Lois Bronz Bob Darcy, Legislator Kay Carsky, County Attorney Marilyn Slaatten Secretary: Lynne Creighton Dr. Benjamin Dyett, African-American Advisory Board Albert E. Williams
The meeting was called to order at 12:05 PM by Mr. Young.
Mr. Young entertained a motion to move the minutes of March 25, seconded by Mrs. Bronz, passed by a vote of 3-0.
Mrs. Slaatten gave the committee an update on the proposed legislation for economic development, along with some suggestions and ideas.
At issue was legislation requiring promotion of encouraging departments to make sure that minority-owned businesses know about opportunities with the County as well as appropriate record keeping by department.
Mrs. Slaatten said she looked at both Federal and State law and the County Executive’s orders, as well as talked to the Director of the State office of Economic Development, who has the purview on certifying minority-owned businesses.
Mrs. Slaatten suggested using the State’s definition of a Minority Business, since their definition is fairly broad or the Federal definition, which is even broader.
Mrs. Slaatten said she had some options for the committee.
DRAFT PAGE TWO COMMITTEE ON MINORITY AFFAIRS
Mrs. Slaatten said there were two different sets of laws in the Resolution: One is the General Municipal Law in Competitive Bidding where the County is required to take the lowest responsible bidder. The other is the Short Forms, whereby a matter that is under $20,000, is less than for a year and is not going to be repeated again go on Short Forms, and are not considered bids.
Mrs. Slaatten said that Finance would have the statistical data on the Short Forms which would show how many contracts are going to minority and women-owned businesses and what efforts are being made to get them. This would provide a legal basis for Short Forms to take a look at those set aside.
Mrs. Slaatten said the other place would be the Request for Proposal part of the Procurement Law, which was passed by the Board of Legislators five years ago, and it is the Board’s responsibility to annually review that law. Mrs. Slaatten suggested that the committee may want to take a look at this law to see specifically how it benefits minorities and women.
Mrs. Slaatten said that the committee would need some input from the departments and should contact Jamie Hastings for assistance.
Mr. Young thanked Mrs. Slaatten for her update and opened the floor to discussion, after which he asked Lynne to invite Dan Rodriguez to the next committee meeting, which will be on April 29, to discuss Procurement Policy.
Mr. Young entertained a motion to adjourn the meeting at 1:10 PM, seconded by Mr. Darcy, passed by a vote of 3-0.
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